What is a senior professional? A senior employee is the one with the longest time at home and who knows:
- the company's processes;
- its area of operation;
- the gears that drive your entire organization.
However, what is a senior professional also comes with other responsibilities.
No wonder, many companies don't seem to know what a senior professional is, using it only to reward employee longevity.
By better understanding what a senior professional is, you will realize that it is possible to set up a very efficient professional structure, for example, by delegating differentiated activities and goals between different levels of employees within your organization.
Not to mention that it is possible to compose a process of recruitment and selection by competencies, further qualifying the sector and, thus, attracting talents truly aligned with the required skills.
Check here, what is a senior professional and what is its relevance within the company!
What is a senior professional these days?
As we have pointed out, traditionally the concept of senior professional it has been mistakenly used only to reward long-time employees.
Consequently, a hierarchy is maintained:
- dated;
- outdated;
- that does not correspond to the current market requirements.
Not to mention that the promotion of a professional to the title of senior does not always correspond to their real abilities.
Read too: What is the company's organization chart? 5 templates for your business
Problems when you don't know what's professional
senior
Companies that have junior-level professionals who are highly trained can face high turnover rates if HR and management do not know what a senior professional is, and apply the concept in the wrong way.
This is because employees with great talent and capacity feel devalued if the company only rewards those who remain in their positions for longer.
Can you understand the damaging dynamics of this?
After all, a professional with more years within the company is not always interested in developing personally and professionally.
Unlike, for example, a young talent who is willing and interested in being versatile and constantly evolving.
Rewarding just the time spent is one way to stagnate the organization's own growth.
After all, this can result in:
- increase in the turnover index;
- less ability to attract and retain talent;
- demotivation;
- low performance of other professionals.
Therefore, it is important to understand what a senior professional is, starting with differentiation of levels.
Understanding what it's like to be senior in a company
To set up a relevant differentiation of positions within the company, understand below what are the levels and, mainly, what are the responsibilities and expectations for filling each position.
You will see that it is not a simple differentiation to define wages!
Junior employee
Usually, the junior employee is someone who has just graduated and does not have much experience in the position. Consequently, its activities require less technical knowledge and skills than a full-fledged professional, for example, or even senior.
Imagine, for example, a communications professional: a junior employee is expected to understand the use of basic tools for the job. But they are not expected to be experts in the activity, nor in the management of the main software for the job in question.
It is also worth noting that the number of duties of this type of professional is reduced. You should not hire him to perform, for example, specialist functions.
Full employee
In turn, before we see what a senior professional is, let's assess the previous hierarchical level. The full professional usually has a degree in his field and demonstrates previous experience in the position in which he is applying for a position – or who is waiting for a promotion.
In addition, the position as full requires more responsibilities from the professional.
In general, the full professional can even coordinate a team, but it is important that he has a superior to:
- to report;
- learn;
- continuously qualify in the exercise of their profession.
Senior employee
Finally, let's understand what a senior professional is. It is someone who owns more than 5 years in your work, becoming an expert with vast knowledge of the position. In addition, this professional:
- It has autonomy for decision making;
- he can manage projects;
- lead a team.
It is worth pointing out that a postgraduate course or MBA is not a requirement. But, academically, it is a way to demonstrate that the professional is entering more deeply into the work where he developed his career.
Master employee
It is worth noting that there is still a master nomenclature within companies. It can be a good way to use it to define, in detail, an internal career plan.
This will contribute to the definition:
- of positions;
- responsibilities;
- requirements for future hiring.
This type of professional usually accumulate more than 10 years of experience in your role, in addition to technical mastery and recognition of the trends and challenges of its sector.
He is truly an expert who can – and should – be valued within the company.
Speaking of which, the best way to compose this differentiation of positions is, indeed, through the career plan. And we have a whole post that talks about the subject; “What is a career plan: the key to retaining and attracting talent”.
Another way to increase talent retention in the company is to opt for new corporate benefits.
O HR Consultant UKy It's an application that allows employees to anticipate part of their wages when they want in a simple and instant way. Believe me, the benefits for the company are also many.
Did you like it? Talk to an expert and learn how to implement this feature in your business.
And in your company, does everyone already know what a senior professional is and know what to expect from him? Share your experiences with us in the comments field of this post, just below!
